Protect Doctors & Hospitals

As doctors running hospitals and providing healthcare in Aleppo governorate since the outbreak of the war in Syria, the protection of hospitals and their staff is central to IDA’s medical mission.

Under international human rights law, everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which constitutes the right to unobstructed access to health facilities and services.

Over the past six years, attacks on health care infrastructure and personnel have became a hallmark of the war with at least 750 health workers killed and 60% of public hospitals partially or fully out of operation. The peak of the attacks was 2016, when medical units were hit on almost a weekly basis. East Aleppo alone has been one of the hardest hit cities with only 7 hospitals standing mid-2016 for a population of 300,000. IDA’s Children’s Hospital in Aleppo, the only specialised paediatrics hospital in the city, was hit 5 times in 2o16 until it was permanently put out of operation on November 14.

Our Voice for Advocacy

IDA works to document these attacks and advocate for the upholding of international humanitarian law.

We appeal to:

The Syrian government and its allies to halt all airstrikes on civilian areas and hospitals.

The UN Security Council, as the body charged with maintaining international peace and security, to take action to ensure the Syrian and Russian governments cease all attacks on medical facilities and civilian spaces, as required by IHL and Security Council Resolution 2139 and 2165. It must do all in its power to immediately implement additional measures to address the Syrian and Russian governments’ non-compliance with these resolutions.

As ISSG members, the U.S. and Russian governments to follow through on their commitment to the cessation of hostilities. Though the cessation of hostilities is not a long-term solution to ending attacks on civilians in Syria, its revitalization could end the current massacres in Aleppo and prevent impending siege.